Circle for Hekate - Volume I: History & Mythology (1) (Circle for Hekate Project) - Softcover

My reading list is pretty much a never-ending queue. However, when the postal worker dropped off a copy of Circle For Hekate – Volume I: History & Mythology by Sorita d’Este, I had to stop reading the book I currently was and dive into this one until I finished it, something I try to never do. I’m a huge fan of Sorita’s work, and I knew this book was going to be amazing. Originally this was going to be one large book, but the project became so big that Sorita is dividing it into several volumes, which just excites me more.

The book itself has somewhat of the heart of her earlier work, Hekate: Liminal Rites, which she wrote with David Rankine, which is still my first recommendation to anyone seeking a first book on Hekate out of the many books about Hekate out there. There are some strong differences between this book and Liminal Rites though. Circle For Hekate – Volume I is a longer book than Liminal Rites, coming in at about seventy more pages. This book includes a lot of her newer findings in the last eight years of devotion and research since Liminal Rites was published. While it would be almost impossible to not touch on some of the same material as Liminal Rites, this book has way more information and from a different point of view, seeming to focus more on historical worship of Hekate through many different cultures, exploring also her myths, devotional practices, and different deities she was associated and conflated with over time.

The book is full of information that I haven’t seen anywhere else on Hekate, as I had expected from a researcher as devoted to Hekate as Sorita is. This book is just as great of a starting point to learn about Hekate as Liminal Rites, if not better. Despite the wealth of knowledge and information provided within this book, Sorita has an ability to translate that into a comprehensive writing style that can be lacking in scholarly works on Hekate. This is mainly because she’s writing with devotees of Hekate in mind, and not so much academic peer review.

With Sorita’s work you always get the highest quality of content and honoring of the history of Hekate, without trying to ignore or mold this history into something that fits a certain agenda regarding belief about this goddess. Circle For Hekate – Volume I: History & Mythology is a book all who work with Hekate should own, to gain an even deeper understanding of this titanic goddess and how she has been revered throughout the ages.  - Mat Auryn, Amazon reviewer

In Circle for Hekate – Volume I: History & Mythology, the author draws together scholarly research from a wide range of sources, highlighting the manifold and universal nature of this extraordinary goddess. The book serves as a comprehensive introduction to her many myths and legends, viewed through the Divine Ancestry attributed to her in Hesiod’s Theogony (800-700BCE), as well as an exploration of her conflation with other goddesses, archaeology, literature, and iconography.

Hekate’s worship was never limited to one geographical region. Her presence is well attested in Greece and Turkey, as well as Egypt, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Russia, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, Sicily and Southern Italy. She has possible links to Minoan Crete, her most famous temple stood in Lagina, and she was a popular goddess in ancient Athens. Her history reveals many fascinating stories: how Hekate Phosphoros saved ancient Byzantium from an invasion by Phillip II of Macedonia (father of Alexander the Great); and how a visit to her temple in Ephesus influenced Julian the Apostate, the last Pagan Emperor of Rome.

Hekate was connected to Artemis, Demeter, Persephone, Isis, Diana, Despoina and other significant goddesses, appearing in single-and triple-bodied forms, as well as theriocephalic emanations with the heads of various animals. She shared the symbols of the torch, whip, snake and dagger with the Erinyes, and wielded the key to the Mysteries, wearing variously the modius, polos, kalathos and Phrygian cap.  She shared paeans with Dionysos, stood with Hermes at the throne of the Phrygian Kybele, and sat next to Zeus in the cult of the Empty Throne. Far from being an obscure goddess, her torches illuminated the Mysteries at Eleusis, Samothrace, Aegina and Ephesus, leading the way for initiates.

Suitable for reading as a standalone text by those fascinated in the history and myths related to Hekate, Circle for Hekate: History & Mythology also serves as background reading for those wishing to pursue a more practical understanding of the goddess, providing a clear contextual foundation for practice. Subsequent volumes in this series build upon the foundation provided in this first book to include devotional rites, meditations, contemplations and charms, giving readers the opportunity to develop their own personal understandings and relationships with this goddess.

About the Author
Sorita d’Este is an author, researcher and priestess who has devoted her life to the Mysteries. She is the author of numerous books on both the practice and history of magic, plus mythology, folklore and witchcraft. 
In late 2000 she co-founded the StarStone Network with David Rankine, which was dedicated to the study of Initiatory Witchcraft, Ceremonial Magic and the Mysteries of Hekate. With him she co-authored Hekate: Liminal Rites (2009), a compendium of magical practices historically associated with Hekate. With contributions from students, friends and practitioners from around the world she compiled Hekate: Keys to the Crossroads (2006) and Hekate: Her Sacred Fires (2010). In 2010 she wrote the Rite of Her Sacred Fires, a simple devotional ceremony which has become a worldwide annual celebration in honour of Hekate, celebrated at the Full Moon of May each year by many hundreds of people and now translated into 30 languages. She is also the Keybearer and founder of the Covenant of Hekate – www.hekatecovenant.com.
Sorita lives on a hill in Glastonbury from where she works as a publisher and writer. She is often distracted from work by her son, her love of gardening, and interesting visitors from different spiritual and esoteric persuasions.